Nootka

This is an outdated term for Nuučaan̓uɫ (Nuu-chah-nulth) that some Nuučaan̓uɫ people consider derogatory. It was officially replaced by the current name Nuučaan̓uɫ (meaning “all along the mountains") in 1978. The name “Nootka” is likely from Captain Cook’s first encountered the villagers at Yuquot in 1778. Villagers may have directed him to "come around" (“nuutkaa” is "to circle around") with his ship to their harbour. Cook interpreted this as the name of the people and it became widely used in English for the next 200 years.